hits bottom, digs deeper

[update] below the fold and video. I can only conclude at this point that the “don’t get it” disease runs deep and wide in this administration. [update 2] This at the WSJ encapsulates what we are observing.

This has gone beyond painful to watch to embarrassing. The president now claims that his statements were sliced and diced. He now is saying that he believes that businesses built themselves, while claiming that his earlier statement was taken out of context. Let me be up front about this. The single, best thing the president could do at this moment, is to say “a) I got it wrong, b) I am sorry for insinuating what I did.” I don’t think that would be any less believable than his denial he said what he said. There’s a new video out that very precisely retains his original context, and fronts it with his new statement. I’ll show you that in a moment. I had thought that this absolutely ridiculous concept originated with Elizabeth Warren in Mass. She’s the one claiming ancestry which … er … appears to be (at best) completely untrue. But I was incorrect in my assumption. Turns out that there is another source for this foul dejecta. And whats funnier in my mind, is the linkage to the OWS and other O* movements. When I indicated it was an article of faith with them, yeah, its kind of hard to miss that it really is. Its what they believe. Its wrong, but thats what they believe. As noted previously, its the tax payers, that is, the successful business people, and the people who work for them, who pay for the governments budget(s) to build roads, bridges and pay teachers. Some may argue, what about public sector workers … and yeah … they pay taxes too. But where does the money for their salary come from? Really, this isn’t rocket science folks. Since we know that this is what Mr. Obama believes, and Liz Warren believes … denial of it comes off as strange. Mr. Obama, when saying words he needs to, but doesn’t believe or support himself, tends to speak faster. This is my observation, not actual empirical data. When he says something he believes in, he lingers. The video below with the two context, the first denying the second, are juxtaposed. Listen to the speed of his prose. Even if he apologized, since we now understand where this all came from, I can’t say I’d believe the apology. He’s just dug himself in too deep to extract.

Update from above: I just read this. In it, Mr Carney, speaking for Mr Obama, lets go of some even bigger whoppers.

For the record, we decided to switch from an LLC (flow through entity) to a Delaware C corp for two reasons. First, better fit for raising capital. Second, with the election of Mr Obama, and the rhetoric I saw flying about, I could just see them pointing at me and screaming “thats one of them thar millun-airs there, go get em boys!” Ok, maybe not quite in that precise manner, but on paper according to the tax man, we were well over this ceiling. We aren’t hedge fund managers. Our actual take home is FAR far lower. Less than the people we’ve hired made. Much less. And that gets to the point. If the government decides it wants more of our money my choice is to pay less for my employees, or to pay myself even less. As the lowest paid person in my company, having to support a family, that last choice wouldn’t be fair to me. Paying employees less … hmmm … raise your hand if you want a salary cut. No? Ok, lets reduce headcount in order to pay the increased taxes Mr Obama wants. Or choice C. Become a Delaware C corp, so the company pays its own taxes, and I don’t look like a robber baron with deep pockets just waiting to be raided by the clueless twits seeking to take more money from me.

Oh … that just makes it better. Lets do a little math, shall we? Lets pretend “I” made $1.25M profit last year as a flow through entity, and that is what is reported on my taxes. These aren’t our real numbers, just an artifice for ease of calculation. Taxes on the first $250k don’t go up. Great. Taxes on the next $1M do. Suppose that the tax difference is 5%. So 5% of $1M is …. anyone? Now of course, being a small business, we plow EVERY LAST FREAKING CENT back into the company. So this “profit” goes to buy more equipment, HIRE MORE PEOPLE, …. So that 5% of $1M is $50k. Thats most of a single person. For a year. This is why I am so incensed with efforts to grab more of what I’ve bled for. I would much rather give the money in salary/benefits to people, whom will increase economic activity and grow the economy. This is what Mr. Obama should be doing. If he really REALLY believes what is written below, he would ask for legislation that lets every small business under say 20 employees take every last dime they would normally pay in tax, and use that to hire people … … talk about an economic engine. Yeah, we’d have to cut spending more than we already have to cut spending. As Mr. Clinton demonstrated some time ago, the way to grow the economy is to get the deficits out of the budget, and get out of the way of the people who build their businesses and create something of value.

No Mr. Carney, I don’t believe this at all. The whole $250k shenanigans is a great example of why no one should believe it.